Both kids were back at the orthodontist for another round of not-free dental work.  Moving teeth around so other teeth can come in crooked and then get moved around again.  Kinda Sisyphean if you think about it.  

My soccer message to Myles seems to have gotten through.  For now.  Which is great, because I want him to just enjoy playing sports as much as I enjoy it.  It's not about winning or losing, it's about getting out there and competing and having fun.  Which is what us people that never win like to emphasize.  

Redwood Empire Rocket Top Rye.  Distilled grain to grass by Redwood out there in Sonoma.  But should it be, or should they go back to sourcing from MGP...

What's that?  You're curious about how my weight loss journey 2025 is going since we're like 85% done with the year and we're about to hit my fattening months?  

Enjoy!

I'm busier here than I've been in a long time.  Stupid work and both kids playing travel sports, and stuff.  Whatever, recording and releasing will be whenever I can get it in.  Totally on brand. 

The Cubs season is over.  Just kinda fizzled out in game 5.  No drama, just slowly bleeding out.  Hey, we've got a really good core again and we should be back stronger next year.  

I finally had to have a hard talk with Myles over his attitude when playing sports.  This has been brewing for some time, but he finally pushed me over the limit during this tourney and I let him have it.  Hopefully it's tough love and he re-centers himself.  

My crowd-sourced 12-day Whiskey Advent calendar is coming together.  Found the right connection to help make this a reality and off we go!

You know what really grinds my gears?  F'n SD cards that don't last more than 5 years.  

Enjoy!

All the stress, and activities, and not sleeping finally caught up with me.  My brain finally just gave up over the weekend.  It called slaughter rule and packed it in.  It happens.  And I need to talk about it.  

The Cubbies were able to pull out a series win against the Padres.  On to face the Brewers in the NLDS.  I'm not super confident in this match-up, but anything can happen in the playoffs.  

Knob Creek 21 year.  Is it an over-oaked, over-priced mess?  Or is this a worthy addition to the 12, 15, and 18 year?  Let's find out.

If you could have 1 mutant power, what would it be?  This used to be a debate for me, but now there is one clear and obvious winner.  And it's not even close. 

Enjoy!

I try to keep it light and loose and humerous this week.  Things are just so dark in the world right now.  And...no whiskey review.  I had one recorded, but my palate was definitely not right and it wasn't a fair review.  So we've entered the era of...sometimes.

Anyways, my MIL has a new thing: numerology.  Apparently seeing 11 everywhere means something.  Bad news for her, she opened the door to using number games to get there.  Too much of my scholastic careery has been spent doing "you're at A, you end at B, show how to get there".  

I've decoded what makes me enjoy watching my sports teams.  Stupid nicknames that allow me to jump off the couch and yell dumb things.  I really am that simple.  Luckily, Purdue has a couple.  The Bears...maybe.  

Enjoy!

Little bit of a mental regression early this week.  Could be thanks to that f'n 50-mile bike ride through the hills, could be me just finally dealing with some realities.  But I righted the ship and come up with a clever analogy.  Win-win.

In a truly shocking twist, the right is now all-in on cancel culture and the left is getting punished.  I never thought I'd see it.  Although we might be able to cross over into 1st ammendment violation territory.

Penelope Wheated.  Just regular white label with cooler packaging and 15 extra proof points?  Availale alternative to Weller?  Let's find out.

Quick run-down of all my active sports team.  Cubs, Bears, Boilermakers.  Which ones are giving, and which are sus.  

Enjoy!

Well I did it.  I completely unrecognized both episode 100 AND the end of season 2.  I'm just really bad at acknowleding any milestones.  Ever.  In all facets of my life.

Our country is once again facing a crisis.  A radical right-wing influencer/public persona was shot and killed in Utah.  No, cold-blooded murder is never acceptable.  Even when it's directed at a person like Mr. Kirk.  

It was a tale of 2 weekend days.  Saturday was a thing, and then Sunday was the opposite of that thing.  

I was sent whiskey samples from a big-boy distillery!!  Sure, it was for a tasting event last week, but let's focus on the cool.  ASW Fiddler Heartwood.  Is it Hot 'Lanta, or hot garbage? 

Enjoy!

Summer Vacation is over!!  But...was this a return to the disasterous last trip to OCMD, or have things improved.  Did we have a relaxing double-trip?  Did I continue my reign of terror on the minigolf pitch?  Is my wife "secretly" trying to off me and collect on my life insurance policy?  

I have finally brought closure to the Pancake v waffle v french toast debate.  It's a simple question once you reframe it correctly.  Kinda like graphing something by frequency instead of time.  Suddenly it all makes sense.  

Rowan's Creek out of the Willett distillery.  Does the juice live up to the price and the fancy label?  

Enjoy!

Another grind of a week, all of my own doing.  Almost screwed up a party pick-up, and just couldn't keep my focus all week.  Doesn't help having a middle schooler to shuttle around.

This week has been giving fall.  Even though it's not fall.  False fall.  But it's got my chomping at the bit for some real football.  

Barrell Seagrass.  Superb summer sipper?  Overhyped marketing gimmick?  Let's pop the cork (again) and find out.

And I guess I have a grievence this week.  But not really.  More of a kinda annoyance.  I don't know, just let me start summer vacation already.

Enjoy!

The minivan already didn't have a cool horn, didn't have a cool paint job, and now it's also NOT ramped over a flat-bed!  Could it BE any more lame?

Thanks to my "friend" Bill, I got roiled into another debate over what is and isn't a sport.  But this actually brought some clarity to my stance.  

Myles's Bar Mitzvah festivities are officially over.  We had a great night at the Union game.  Duncan celebrated shirtless, I made up a new food (that I later regretted), many kid-sized capes (some call them flags) were acquired.  

I won the rights to purchase a bottle of Found North HellDiver 2025.  So we'll review it.  Was it worth the wait (and cost)?  

Enjoy!

Even though it turned out to be a very busy, almost chaotic, weekend, I'm oddly content right now.  Even today as I post this, I feel weirdly mentally and physically healthy.  Don't worry, I'll take care of at least 1 of those tonight...

Barrell Bourbon is up for review.  Batch 37.  Some really old components in this blend.  Is it older and wiser, or should it be put out to pasture?

Ah yes, the fun of ignoring minor recalls on a car.  That never comes back to bite you in the ass, right?  I mean, how could something so superficial wreck a week?

And then boy do I have a bone to pick with certain categories of influencers.  Seems I hit my own nerve on this one.  Really letting the anger flow through me.

Enjoy!